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Lost Stars - A Distant Worlds Expedition

On December 16th 3300, the day Elite Dangerous was officially released, a long ranged Asp Explorer, the DSS Beagle, left the Pallaeni star system to begin the first recorded galactic crossing.

Codenamed 'Distant Suns' the expedition was recorded in a 12-series video log. The mission was to travel to the far side of the galaxy via the galactic core, mapping and documenting all major discoveries made along the way.

Some 5 weeks later, on January 18th 3301, DSS Beagle reached a star system on the edge of the far galactic rim, 65,279 LYs from Sol. The system (CEECKIA ZQ-L C24-0) subsequently became known as 'Beagle Point'. It marked the end of the line of the Distant Suns expedition.

One year later, in January 3302, the DSS Beagle and a fleet of over 1,300 brave souls retraced those steps and traveled all the way to Beagle Point, over 65K LY away. Four months later, they succeeded, and the Distant Worlds Expedition became the largest and furthest fleet Expedition in the history of mankind.

Now, not but two months after their journey’s end, a lone Commander seeks unite Xbox One Players under one flag.

Codenamed “Lost Stars”, this new expedition tasks participants to travel even farther beyond the stars. Approximately 1,400 LY further. Starting at the very tip of the Orion Nebula’s Two Mass star Cluster, then continuing along the original path taken by both the Distant Suns and Distant Worlds Expeditions, while exploring as many of the planets and stars we come across.

The Distant Worlds Expedition is open to all XBox Pilots who have the endurance and time to commit to this deep space journey.

The will have three main goals:
1.) To first travel to the tip of the Orion Nebula 2Mass star cluster, where we will begin out journey and at the same time scan as many of the 2MASS star systems as possible
2.) To travel to the outer rim of the galaxy while exploring multiple key astronomical sites along the way and ending with the Planetary Landing at Beagle Point for the first time on Xbox One (Thanks to the June 3rd launch of Horizons on Xbox One) and the subsequent exploration of the surrounding systems.
3.) To travel the 65,000 LY distance back.

UPDATE! MUST READ:Just a little update on DWE: After a brief chat with RIT and the leaders of the exploration division of the EC (Thanks forr the advice) and a VERY long talk with my IRL friend who is helping me organize this I have decided to delay the expedition for a month. In part due to the escalation of events in the game it is my belief that within the year we may be facing an encounter of unprecedented proportions and when it does happen, humanity may need all the hands it can get. Another reason for this is because of a need to better organize the event in general. If you were planning to go on the expedition or know someone who is, then please help get the word out The Original Lost stars post will be updated within the week.

The start date for Lost Stars HAS CHANGED TO AUGUST 12th

Due to the need for more organization and a lack of preperation on my part I have officially decided to delay it by ONE MONTH. So now the official start date is august 12th. If you cannot make it now because of this, that is perfectly fine and I understand.

ALSO I am looking for volunteers to help me organize it! IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO VOLUNTEER SEND ME A PRIVATE MESSAGE. The positions are as follows:

-Basecamp Activities coordinator:

-Fuel Rat:
-Rock Rats(Rock rats are people that look for jumponium material deposits)
-Fleet coordinators:
-And someone that can help me contact various other Elite dangerous organizations
-Maybe even some forum moderators

Date : August 12th 3302
20:00 12th August 3302 In-Game-Time (for USA, Canada and S. American based time zones)
If you live in a separate time zone then depending on how many people join, I might add more launch days for EU

Important to note:
It is possible for a 25 LY ranged ship to cross the Abyss at the Roncevaux Crossing, and travel through the Solitude region towards the Ceeckia sector, but to reach Beagle Point itself, and its neighboring systems, you will most likely need a ship capable of at least a 34 LY standard jump. Ships with less range will need to carry sufficient Jumponium to make it to Beagle Point. Jumponium will be included in the Horizons DLC. AND FOR SHIPS OF A 34LY JUMP RANGE AT LEAST 12 J1 ARE NEEDED TO COVER THE LAST 6 JUMPS

Routes and Maps:
Note: The following maps are a part of the original Distant Worlds thread seen here and I do not in any way own them. Full credit goes to Erimus and the Galactic Mapping Project. These are also the same exact basecamps used by the Distant Worlds Expedition and I have been given permission by Erimus to reuse them.

Also, in order to reach the Orion’s Nebula, it is possible to make it with a frameshift jump range of 17.8 LY. I would know, I made the journey in a Cobra MKIII with a 17.8 LY jump range. So, if you do not have the ability to buy a ship capable of a 34 LY jump, then you can join us for at least the pre-expedition to Barnard’s Loop and back to SOL. This is one of the reason we will do this.

Before following in Distant World’s tracks by beginning the 85,000 LY journey to Beagle point, a “Pre-Expedition” will be help to explore the Orion Nebula, and the 2MASS star cluster, around our base camp at the NSV 2123 star system. This is being help to not only extend upon Distant World’s original mission plan, but to also give the Commanders that have neither the time or the effort to put into the main expedition.

Before we set off for Beagle Point, we head back to the bubble and meet up at the Pallaeni system Where the leading CMDR will address the fleet before the expedition begins. This marks the end of The Orion Expedition, and for many people, the end of their journey with the fleet.

THE LOST STARS EXPEDITION WAYPOINTS (CONTINUING FROM PALLAENI):

Crossing the Galaxy:

The following maps were created during the Age of Pioneers era, when the first explorers began leaving the confines of frontier borders and headed out into the unknown depths. More maps and details of each point of interest that are planned to be visited along the Distant Worlds route can be viewed in the Galactic Mapping thread.

Leaving Pallaeni we cross the Frontier to the Shapley 1 region. Shapley 1 has no landable planets so we would look for airless worlds close to the Wolf-Rayet system and capture some great vistas with the gas cloud in the backdrop.

From Shapley 1, we travel across the Sagittarius Gap and avoid the Aucocks Pocket by plotting a route around 100 LYs above or below the galactic plane. Onwards to the Lagoon Nebula with an optional excursion to Thor's Eye en-route, (although this black hole system has no landable worlds). The Lagoon Nebula is one of the most colorful nebulae so far charted. Its a large nebula offering plenty of systems with airless planets and moons to make planetfall on.

From the Lagoon its a short haul to the Trifid Nebula that sits between our previous waypoint and the Omega Nebula - two nebulae of similar appearance and both of which can be visited en-route to the Eagle Nebula.
The Omega Nebula base camp is situated between the nebula itself and the neighboring PW2010 Super Cluster, making it the ideal location to begin expeditions out to these two prominent locations.

This nebula contains one of the most closely compacted star clusters known, with some stars within it less than a light year apart. After making planetfall inside the Eagle Nebula and exploring some of its worlds, we'll head across the Sagittarius Arm to NGC 6357.

This is it. 7K light years from home, and we finally begin our journey to Jaques. Take a good long look back, because you won't see it again for a long time. Skywalker Landing however, is a beautiful location in the Skaudi AA Nebula. Positioned at the top of a canyon, this basecamp has a beautiful view of a ringed, purple gas giant only .5 light seconds away and the combination of the nebula and the star light illuminates the atmosphere with a bright orange glow.

After the recent discover of Jaques station Commanders around the bubble rushed to it's aid. Jaques station symbolizes the closest populated area of space to Beagle Point and for many of us, our last chance to associate with people other than each other.

This is one of several close proximity stellar remnant ejecta nebula within the Myriesly Sector. The Amethyst Cloud being one of the most colourful. We're less that 600 LYs from Sagittarius A* now so our stay at this nebula will be brief as we prepare for the galactic core gathering.

Here we visit Sagittarius A* - the famous supermassive blackhole at the centre of the galaxy. The closest star systems are less than a light year away and it is at one of them where our core base camp is situated - an ideal staging post to prepare for the exploration of the Milky Way's heart. A trip to the roof of the galactic core awaits after this!

We're heading to the roof of the galaxy, some 2,000 LYs directly above Sag-A*. From our base camp vantage point we get a spectacular view of the expansive galactic core regions below us. An awe-inspiring site that only a few have witnessed first hand. For larger FSD-ranged ships with J3 Jumponium, an optional excursion to Altum Sagittarii "Prime" is available for those who have the time. Sagittarii "Prime" is situated a further 870 LYs above our designated Waypoint 12 base camp system!

Leaving the galactic centre we head across the core regions to The Phipoea Nebula, with an optional trip out to the Scaulo-Systimbu Stellar Graveyard. The graveyard has one of the highest concentrations of black holes throughout the known galaxy. From here its onwards to the The Dryao Chrea Stellar Remnant.

Here we arrive at another colorful planetary nebula, but this one is illuminated by the light of a hundred billion star systems in all directions! The primary is a Black Hole that is at the heart of the blue glowing ejecta nebula. The sheer luminosity of the gas cloud gives all the worlds in this strange system a perpetual twilight of blue and purple.

This is probably the most stunning planetary nebulae throughout the region. The sheer brightness and vibrant shades of green that make up the dust and gas cloud make it a sight you will never forget. Stunning! From here we begin one of our longest treks so far, a 6,000 LY journey out to the Magnus Nebula on the Bleia Permit Zone frontier.

Less than 1,000 LYs from the mysterious Bleia Borders, the Magnus Nebula is one of the largest so far discovered on the far galactic core. Embedded within are several thousand star systems - including several neutron stars.

After an arduous journey across the uncharted Perseus Stem, we reach Greeroi Veil. A small nebula that can be tricky to reach due to it being high above the galactic plane. The view from the Veil as you look out across the galactic core is one not to miss. Ships with less than 30 LY range will struggle to reach this base camp, and only ships with 34 LYs or more will be able to actually enter the nebula itself. Our base camp sits on its outskirts. The Greeroi Veil marks the final nebula along our route. After this we begin the long trek across the Aphelion Bleak Lands.

Rendezvous Point has some airless worlds - giving us a chance to explore this famous system in some detail. As some of you may be aware, this system made the GalNet News in March 3301 when the first recorded deep space meeting occurred there, 43,000 LYs from Sol. A brief recording of the event was made at the time :A Distant Rendezvous. Leaving Rendezvous Point we cross the Cygnus Arm and head into the Scutum-Centaurus Arm.

We're now deep in the Bleak Lands. Stretching across 20,000 LYs of the Aphelion regions, the Bleak Lands are an enormous expanse of sectors that contain very little in the form of nebulae and star clusters. It is a conundrum that has baffled astronomers since the early days of deep space exploration as to why this part of the galaxy is in stark contrast to the beauty and content we enjoy throughout the Orion Spur region. Here we make base camp in 'The Pit' - A 1.12G High Metal Content World orbiting its parent star at a mere 8 LS away. Surface temperature on the daylight side of this world can reach up to 1,534K. This is an inhospitable place in a desolate region and it is from here that we begin one of the longest treks between waypoints; 8,700 LYs across the Scutum-Centaurus Arm.

Before heading out across the Abyss, we gather at its southern edge and stock up on Jumponium fuel as this will be essential the closer to our final goal we travel. When crossing the Abyss, we skirt around the Chiea Pocket badlands and begin the final leg of the outbound journey - crossing the inhospitable Solitude Void and edge our way to the distant Ceeckia star systems.

Situated on the far edge of the 'southeastern' part of the Abyss, this system acts as a 61,000 LY distance marker and a navigational waypoint for starships heading out to the galactic rim from the Roncevaux Crossing. It is almost exactly 10,000 LYs to Beagle Point from this beacon star system. This is our penultimate base camp gathering before we set off across the vast Solitude Void... a lonely journey out on the galactic fringe - through ever sparser star systems, beyond which awaits our final goal.

Finally we arrive at Beagle Point. A star system on the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy offering all who reach it a real sense of remoteness as you look back at the very distant core regions, 35,000 light years away, and realize home is yet another 30,000 light years beyond that! There are not many places in the galaxy that can give an explorer that sense of scale. Outwards looking you see nothing but the vast inky blackness of the intergalactic void. Here at Beagle Point, at least one airless world and several airless moons await our exploration. A 1,200 LY excursion to explore The Moons of Podar can also be planned at this point. Podar is west and south of Beagle Point and sits on the northern edge of the Abyss. It is a ringed Earth-Like World that has 3 airless moons orbiting it - ripe for exploration.

EDIT:Was just looking at the OP and realized it was kinda confusing for some people to clarify:In the itinerary, the date that is posted directly next to the system name, is the date that you should ARRIVE there and also the day we will LEAVE FOR THE NEXT WAYPOINT.

So for those wanting to come along from Alpha Centauri to the Orion Nebula, we LAUNCH August 12TH and will ARRIVE AT NSV2123 on the 13THand then if you are also wanting to come to beagle point from the orion nebula, then WE LEAVE FOR PALLAENI ON THE 13TH, and will ARRIVE ON THE 15TH

Then we will OFFICIALLY LAUNCH FOR BEAGLE POINT ON THE 15TH FROM PALLAENI. After that, the itinerary should be pretty explanatory.

Just remember that if you want to group up with he main group at each waypoint, then you must arrive on the date specifically listed next to the star system. Sorry ffor any confusion this may have caused.

I also HIGHLY recommend this ASP Explorer build if you're a beginner such as myself, it will give you enough power to get to beagle point and back,but if you can afford more, then do it.
Ship Build: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOZY0S7p_xo

Permission to use the maps, itinerary, logo, and mission background has be given by Erimus & Dr Kaii.

THE CURRENT XBOX ROSTER:Note: in order to have your name listed on the roster, reply with a post that is similar to this (Note that this expedition is open to both xbox and pc players:
Note 2: Feel free to add me or anyone else on this list and talk to them about the expedition or message me any questions you might have.
P.S. If anyone wants to help me get a lot of credits so I can fully upgrade my asp, lemme know, we'll bang okay? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Question 1: What does this expedition do that Distant Worlds didn't? It looks like all of the waypoints (and most likely the surrounding systems) have been well visited before by Distant Worlds

Question 2: This is the first mention of it on this forum - do you think it would have been a good idea to see what the XBox community would like to do before coming up with an all-inclusive package holiday to the far-galactic rim?

Question 1: What does this expedition do that Distant Worlds didn't? It looks like all of the waypoints (and most likely the surrounding systems) have been well visited before by Distant Worlds

Question 2: This is the first mention of it on this forum - do you think it would have been a good idea to see what the XBox community would like to do before coming up with an all-inclusive package holiday to the far-galactic rim?

Also see Deep Recon X. Only a week old and still learning, but we're doing our own thing.

DReXers please note you will NOT be considered traitors if you want to go with DW. lol (though Gord might strip your badge!)

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PS. PCs and Xbones are VERY different beasts so good luck with instancing and comms.

Interesting, but I'm already at Rendevoux Point. I went alone on my own Schedule with extra waypoints. Jonking to waypoints now so will be at Beagle soon.

Hope you have a decent turnout. Will be hard since some Xbox players already did it.

If by some miracle Jaques makes it to Beagle and has planet landing modules then maybe I'll meet up with the fleet somewhere on my way home.

P.S. You should consider a list of optional/minor waypoints along the way to freshen things up. They don't have to have landable worlds or be in range of every ship (hence the "optional" part). I've a list of my own I can take from since I've been doing the route.

1: The point of this isn't really to be different, the point is to bring together a community that until now, has remained largely separate from the rest xbox players have kinda done there own thing and nobody has really asked them to come together to achieve something like this, as a community. The main difference is the addition of the Barnard's loop expedition which is primarily to bring newer, in experienced players on their first journey with multiple people to help them along. I made the journey after my second week ingame, and I died five times before I finally made it. Maybe giving these players some support will encourage them to travel farther than ever.

2: I'm not sure what you mean by all-inclusive but yes i see your point, perhaps people could leave suggestions as to some optional waypoints we could stop at along the way? One of the reasons I've extended the time between each waypoint is to encourage commanders to take their time and stray of the beaten path if you will,

very good questions and I'm glad you care enough to ask

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I like the idea, I'll add something to the post asking for suggestions

yep... thanks, but no thanks. Its been done before, and with such a big galaxy, why not do something which hasn't been done?

You'll get the guys who didn't do Distant Worlds, and who aren't doing Deep Recon X, but I think that packaging an already planned expedition as something which has been crafted to bring in the XBOX outcasts is a little unfortunate.

Not many of the XBoxers visit the main forums and would most likely have missed any planning discussions which might have taken place in the Exploration threads. More and more are venturing in there now since we're almost caught up with PC.

lol yes I know I'm a bit late but either way, it's not as if people hadn't gone to beagle point on pc before distant worlds. It was a way to bring people together, and take people to places they haven't necessarily been. Distant Worlds was what made me buy the game, and I've been itching to go ever since, all I want is to have some people along for the ride and maybe even mix it up a bit

Ok so I have a proposition, how about instead of taking the exact route DW did, starting at barnard's loop, we branch off towards the elephants trunk neb, ngc 6820 and take a westward approach around the galactic core then cutting through the center, stopping at saggitarius and then completing our s-shape with an eastward approach to beagle point through hypio prao neb, pheia auscs neb, scheau blao aa-a h513, aemonz black hole, hyuqu neb and finally ending back at hypuae briae for the approach to beagle point. Or we could completely skirt the galactic core and continue westward around the galaxy and end up at hypuae briae for the final approach